August 07, 2009

My career of late has taken a decided path toward writing. Both graphic design and writing are forms of communication; however, I am rather enjoying the freedom and liberty that comes with being a professional writer. It provides a way of finally being able to S L O W D O W N and reflect on topics and dreams that are important to me. This doesn't mean that I am giving up graphic design and marketing. But the design and marketing clients and projects that I will be taking on will be far more selective.

Considerations is, in part, a reflection and chronicle of my experiences in
the art and design industry but it also focuses on the more social
aspect of helping you, the reader, develop the most creative and
amazing life you possibly can.

I haven't yet marketed Considerations in any way. I first wanted to share the news with you and I've been working hard to create a body of quality content and refining the navigation and functionality of the site. I'd like to invite you to visit and let me know your thoughts. Please comment if you have an opinion or suggestion. Read the About page because Considerations is not a blog for everyone. Topics, thus far, include:

Creating a Designer's Toolbox

Artist Profile: Balam Soto

10 Ways to be Extraordinary

Designing Your Perfect Day

How I Designed MY Perfect Day

The Client's Bill of Rights

Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to market
yourself as a designer or artist. My mission for Considerations is to share
that information with you and to provide tips and thought provoking
content for readers who don’t want to live an average and mediocre
life. It's not just a design blog or an art blog... my mission is to enable you to live a productive, creative and extraordinary lifestyle.

From an art business, standpoint, there have been many changes in
the last 10 years and the rapid development of technology and the
recent economic crisis has changed the way we need think about and
conduct business. The Internet has become a major tool for
communication and we should all be using it.

Quite simply, the old ways of doing business in the creative
sector will not serve us well today. It’s time to start rethinking the
business of creativity and about how to better enable ourselves to live
the type of life we dream about rather than sit on the sidelines being
invisible or unheard. Who better to reinvent the parameters of doing
business in the arts than the creatives themselves.

I will be posting to Considerations every
Monday and Thursday. Posts will include articles; artist, book and
gallery reviews; profiles of amazing and extraordinary people (profiles
will be few and far between because truly extraordinary people are hard
to come by), art management and marketing tips and ways to incorporate
art and design into your lifestyle.

I presently write for INK Publications (CT) and ArtScope Magazine (Boston). Another project that I'm very excited about is my contribution for AIGA CT in which I've been chosen to write the book for the organization's upcoming LOTION event establishing a new brand identity for the American School for the Deaf.

Thanks so much for being loyal readers of ArtLOOK. You guys ROCK! I hope you will follow me at Considerations.

June 25, 2009

North Carolina artist Patrick Dougherty has created his monumental sculptures all over the world, but has never worked in Connecticut until now. Beginning July 7, the public is invited to watch as Dougherty constructs one of his environmental installations on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The artist will be on site from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. “The process in itself is fascinating,” states Amy Kurtz Lansing, Curator at the Florence Griswold Museum. “It’s rare that visitors get to watch an artist in action, especially on this scale.”

Inspired by the location, Dougherty weaves truckloads of freshly harvested native tree saplings into unique forms called "stickworks." The structures interact with the landscape, introducing notes of whimsy and visual energy. Some installations reach over 24 feet high while others have been woven into trees and mounted on buildings. Combining his carpentry skills with his love for nature, Dougherty began to learn more about primitive techniques of building and to experiment with tree saplings as construction material. No nails or fasteners hold his sculptures together—just the tension of the woven saplings and sticks. During the last two decades, he has built over 150 works throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. The Florence Griswold Museum's installation is sponsored by People's Bank.

By July 24 the structure will be complete. The artwork will be “unveiled” during the Old Lyme’s Midsummer Festival free concert on the lawn of the Museum. Visitors are encouraged to view the sculpture, tour the Museum’s galleries for free from 5 to 7pm and then enjoy a concert on the banks of the Lieutenant River featuring Dan Stevens and the Fiery Band.

On Wednesday, July 15 at 7pm Patrick Dougherty presents, Primitive Ways in an Accelerated World, an illustrated presentation about his experiences and techniques before touring and discussing his latest creation on the Museum’s property. Reservations are required. Call 860-434-5542 x 111 or register at www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org. Lecture fee is $9

June 22, 2009

Jackie Battenfield's new book, The Artist's Guide - How To Make a Living Doing What You Love, is an excellent resource for visual artists at any stage of their career. Battenfield writes in a professional and yet easy manner and provides invaluable information, inspiration and resources on making a successful career in the art world.

Battenfield's words do more than just dictate the "how to" and "why for" of the business end of art. She speaks from the heart and addresses such topics as knowing when you are ready to circulate your art (the difference between nurturing your artistic soul and preparing for business), how to take charge of your professional life, your marketing kit, creating your own opportunities, Introducing your work, building relationships and maintaining your practice.

This former gallery director, artist and teacher has supported herself for over 20 years through sales of her art. She and her husband (also an artist) have successfully paid the bills, purchased life insurance, funded their pension plans, took vacations and put their son through college. Jackie attributes this success to diligent planning and pursuing opportunities. She freely shares this wealth of experience and knowledge with her readers.

Inspiring quotes and advice from dozens of art world professionals are sprinkled throughout the pages providing a "reality check" for the reader. Real life examples and step by step exercises will teach you how to self promote, network, build relationships, broaden your funding resources and explore a wide range of exhibition, commission and sales opportunities beyond the walls of the traditional commercial gallery.

I highly recommend this book as someone who works on a daily basis with artists and as a graphic designer seeking opportunities for myself. Battenfield's advice was helpful and smart. The biggest praise I can give is that in reviewing the book I found a new resource which helped me help a client submit to a call for entry in NYC. This book should be on every artists desk!!

Jackie Battenfield is represented in galleries throughout the United States and in over a thousand collections worldwide. She teaches professional practices at Columbia University and for the Creative Capital Foundation. Please visit her website at www.artistcareerguide.com where you will find information on purchasing the book, interviews, events and speaking engagements.

So begins the introduction to artist Casey Shain’s latest exhibition, Local Colour - The Past Presented Today, now on display at the Keyes Gallery, Stony Creek, Connecticut. What better way to spend a lazy summer afternoon, then visiting the Keyes Gallery, on Thimble Island Road and taking in a little art after a day at the shore.

Keyes Gallery presented approximately 80 of the artist’s works. The Sunday afternoon opening was well attended indeed and despite the gloom and doom of the economy red dots were going up on the walls.

It isn’t painting, it’s not sculpture and it’s not typical New England landscape/still life gobbledegook. Bits of parchment, silver foil, flowers and vintage photographs lovingly culled and affixed to barn board, shingles, and antique board. The work is etched, scratched, buffed and burnished and titles include such descriptions as Hoohoo's Honeymoon Harley, Left Behind, Roses are Green, American Beauty Goes and Thank you, Nut Lady. All works are personal to the artist and each one has a story and historical message. Shain’s mixed media works range in palette from the most subtle pastels to bold saturated color and the subject matter takes the visitor back to perhaps our parents or grandparents time. For those of us past that 60 year old set... a reminiscence of youth. Perhaps we too, have photographs and love letters tucked away in our attics but never will they be so kindly displayed as when artist Casey Shain brings history to the present and reminds the visitor of a time not so long ago.

June 02, 2009

This is just wonderful and will make you smile. Herb and Dorothy tells the story of Herbert Vogel, a
postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one
of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very
modest means.

In the early 1960s, when very little attention was paid
to Minimalist and Conceptual Art, Herb and Dorothy Vogel quietly began
purchasing the works of unknown artists. Devoting all of Herb's salary
to purchase art they liked, and living on Dorothy's paycheck alone,
they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had
to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their
one-bedroom Manhattan apartment. After 30 years of collecting Herb and Dorothy managed to collect over 2,000 pieces of artworks.

March 26, 2009

I was pleased to be offered a pre-screening of Guest of Cindy Sherman, a new documentary opening tomorrow, March 27, in NYC at the Cinema Village and the Santa Fe Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director Paul H-O, formerly of public access GalleryBeat, takes us again behind the scenes of the New York art world and brings us into the artist studio for exclusive interviews with none other than Cindy Sherman.

During his stint at GalleryBeat, Paul attended many gallery openings and won many fans. One of those fans being Cindy Sherman. The press shy and elusive Sherman invites Paul into her studio for a series of exclusive interviews where Paul gains insight into the artist's private world and her artistic process. A romantic relationship develops between the two.

Guest of Cindy Sherman, documents those interviews with the artist as well as interviews with Ingrid Sischy, John Waters, Robert Longo, Carol Kane, David Furnish, Danny DeVito and Molly Ringwald. The film "paints a vivid picture of the New York art scene that is also a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, male anxiety, and art."

Male anxiety, you say? One of the more interesting aspects of the film is in the story of identity. The relationship between Cindy (who wears many identities in her work) and Paul H-O begins to falter when Paul finds his own personality greatly overshadowed by Cindy's. The breaking point culminates as Paul finds himself in the role of "Guest of Cindy Sherman" at the openings and dinners which Cindy regularly attends. The notion of contrasting identities is compelling and the interviews are art world gossip at their best.

February 26, 2009

I've just spent the last hour perusing ArtReview: Digital, and it's exceptionally good. Each month a digital issue of the print magazine is presented online for free. The technology and presentation of ArtReview: Digital is excellent. Articles are insightful, well written and worldly. Once you register for a subscription to the magazine, you will receive a monthly email alerting you to the new issue. The magazine is presented in digital format whereby the reader can interactively flip through the actual pages of the magazine, zoom in to read text or skip ahead to access articles of interest. There is also some terrific European graphic design going on over there in the form of advertising. I must say, the format works!

The online magazine's main site, ArtReview, is a social networking site for the art world. Their members consist of artists, galleries, designers, collectors, critics, curators and those who appreciate fine aesthetics. As a member of ArtReview.com: you can post artwork, blogs, videos and have members rate or comment upon it. You have access to the digital magazine. Members can create their own discussion groups and forums...all while promoting themselves and making international friends. Lovely!

ArtReview's "about us" page goes on to state:

"artreview.com is a unique blend of
editorial and community content, combining the insight and critical
weight of some of today’s most important art world voices with the
input and opinions of everyday enthusiasts from around the world.
artreview.com lets the art world do
the talking."

This months ArtReview:Digital includes the following articles:Alex Katz on GreatnessOne of America's greatest living painters muses about the nature of greatness, why art is just like fashion, what's wrong with art historians and how he's going to ram his work down certain museum directors' throats.

Polling Place Photo Project
was a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encouraged
voters to capture, post and share photographs of primaries, caucuses
and general elections. By documenting local voting experiences,
participants contributed to an archive of photographs that capture the
richness and complexity of voting in America.

Initiated by Winterhouse in partnership with AIGA, the project first
sought to engage voters during the highly politicized 2006 midterm
elections. In 2008, the project was supported by The New York Times and
promoted as a part of their online election coverage. The archive now
includes almost 6,000 photographs, representing all 50 states as well
as Americans voting abroad. Read More

When William Drentell personally invited me to attend the opening... how could I say no? Hope to see you there on March 6, 5-8pm. It should be a great opening.

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